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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26294758">kissin' at the stop signs, darling</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/piginawig/pseuds/piginawig'>piginawig</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>isn't it just so pretty to think... [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>IT - Stephen King</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Teenage Losers Club (IT)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:36:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,800</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26294758</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/piginawig/pseuds/piginawig</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Richie gets a car; Eddie has some misconceptions.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>isn't it just so pretty to think... [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1910539</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>146</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>kissin' at the stop signs, darling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>You might recognize this as a chapter of another fic - I'm reposting each chapter as its own oneshot.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The text came at exactly the right moment – Eddie’s mother was tuned in to Wheel of Fortune, yelling an incorrect guess at the screen. Her shout covered any sound the vibration of Eddie’s phone might have made on his TV tray, and he casually flipped the device over, screen side down, but not before catching sight of Richie’s excited capital letters: <em>I GOT THE JOB!!!!</em></p><p>He smiled as he forked a tepid bite of microwaved lasagna into his mouth. Richie’s dad had promised as soon as Richie got a job he would get the old family car, and they’d been working on the car for months in preparation (well, <em>Eddie</em> had been working on the car; Richie supervised his efforts) for this day.</p><p>He finished his dinner quickly, pressed a sickly sweet kiss to his mother’s cheek, then darted up the stairs and into his bedroom. As soon as the door closed behind him he found Richie’s face on his favorites contact page.</p><p>“I did it, Eds! You’re lookin’ at the newest staff member of Freeze’s Yogurt Shop, starting tomorrow!”</p><p>“I’m not looking at you,” Eddie said contrarily, but he knew Richie could hear the smile in his voice.</p><p>“Semantics, Eds,” Richie said, and Eddie could practically see him waving his hand.</p><p>“Don’t call me Eds,” Eddie reminded him, not because it was something he enforced, but because after all these years it felt wrong not to say it.</p><p>“Of course, I do apologize, Edward, dear.” The British guy. Usually he’d roll his eyes but he was too excited about the prospect of the freedom that came with his best friend having a car, and what that freedom could mean for them.</p><p>“You said your first shift is tomorrow?” Eddie asked, ignoring the British guy.</p><p>“Yep! Noon to six, then it’s just me and the highway.”</p><p>“And me,” Eddie said.</p><p>“Well that’s just a given,” Richie said. “I’m gonna take you out on the town, Eds.”</p><p>Eddie bit his lip to keep the smile from splitting his face. Richie had been promising for so long, years now, that as soon as he got his car he’d take Eddie out, their first time really and truly without adult supervision. He’d never said what exactly they could get up to with no supervision, but Eddie had a few ideas based solely on Richie’s constant flirting with him since they were seven years old.</p><p>The lingering touches, the stares across classrooms, sharing beds when they both knew they were too old, it was all leading up to this, this first chance at freedom. And Eddie wasn’t stupid. He <em>knew</em> what people did in parked cars, or stopped at stop signs.</p><p>“I’ll be ready at six,” Eddie said, and Richie whooped on the other end of the line. Eddie laughed, excitement buzzing through his veins at the thought.</p><p>*</p><p>The car was ugly; there was no amount of paint that could make her any prettier. But Eddie made sure she ran smoothly, that she wouldn’t break down halfway to Bangor. When Eddie dashed outside, his mother’s warnings of caution flying in one ear and out the other, he could see Richie leaning across the passenger seat to open the passenger door for him.</p><p><em>Like a date</em>, he thought giddily.</p><p>Richie was still in his work uniform. His dark jeans were free of the usual holes or purposeful paint splatters, and his teal Polo was still tucked in.</p><p>“Your uniform looks nice,” Eddie said, feeling a rush of nerves. He never knew how to compliment Richie; Richie was so free and loose with compliments that if he didn’t know better, they’d have begun to lose their meaning, but Eddie always meant everything he said. Sometimes he just meant a little bit <em>more</em> than what he said. He trusted Richie to get the translation correct. (Translation of “Your uniform looks nice”: “You look handsome”.)</p><p>“Aw, thanksh,” Richie said in an accent Eddie was unsure about. “You look dashing ash well.”</p><p>“So,” Eddie said, putting his seat belt on and turning to Richie. “Where to first?”</p><p>“The yogurt shop,” Richie said, putting the car into drive.</p><p>Eddie furrowed his brows. “As in where you work, the yogurt shop?”</p><p>“Of course not, I’m not a cheap date. I’m taking you to the yogurt shop next to the mall in Bangor.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>“I mean, it’s the same chain so I still get my employee discount, but still. It’s the thought, right?”</p><p>Eddie chuckled, shaking his head. “Sure, Rich, it’s the thought.”</p><p>*</p><p>The evening passed much like a normal evening between them would, but Eddie had knots in his stomach the entire time. Every time Richie would brush the back of his hand against Eddie’s, he’d find himself blushing. When they got back in the car after yogurt and Richie grabbed at Eddie’s still-cold hand, announcing, “even cold, these hands are the <em>cutest</em> of all the hands,” Eddie’s heart had skipped a beat.</p><p>
  <em>Is this the moment?</em>
</p><p>It wasn’t.</p><p>When Richie pulled into a parking spot in a secluded area of the mall lot and put the car in park.</p><p>
  <em>Is this the moment?</em>
</p><p>It wasn’t.</p><p>Eddie sat, almost annoyed, as Richie showed him a meme on his phone. He couldn’t find it in him to laugh, but he faked a smile for his best friend. The sky was mostly dark and Eddie’s mom had already texted six times; he didn’t have much time before she escalated to phone calls.</p><p>They sat there, showing each other things on their phones, the same way they did all the time <em>with</em> adult supervision, so Eddie didn’t understand why they were wasting this time now, not only free from parents but free from school for the summer, free in a whole separate town where no one knew them.</p><p>And then Richie plugged his phone back into the AUX cord and put the car in reverse.</p><p>Eddie’s stomach plummeted.</p><p>He let the music fill the silence between them; Richie didn’t seem to notice anything was off but Eddie felt like the air around them had become thick with misunderstanding and disappointment.</p><p>Finally, they were nearing Derry, and Eddie couldn’t take it.</p><p>“Can you pull over? Just, here, before we get back into town.”</p><p>Richie complied and turned the music down.</p><p>“What’s up? Is something wrong?”</p><p>“Is something wrong?” Eddie repeated. His heart thrummed loudly against his chest. “What the fuck <em>was</em> this, Richie?”</p><p>Richie’s face showed nothing but confusion. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Eddie huffed in frustration.</p><p>“This was you taking me out? <em>This</em> was what we’ve been talking about for months, for fucking years? You driving me to get yogurt and then showing me memes in your fucking car?”</p><p>His voice was rising and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop now that he’d gotten going. He ignored the fact that Richie looked a lot like a kicked puppy and continued. “<em>Memes</em>, Richie? That’s what you’ve been so fucking excited about? Or were you waiting until you dropped me off? Like you thought it’d be a good idea to pull up in front of my <em>house</em>, where my <em>mother</em> lives, and kiss me there? As if –“</p><p>“Whoa, <em>what</em>?” Richie croaked, his own voice hitting a high note.</p><p>Eddie faltered. “What <em>what</em>?”</p><p>Richie’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he was able to answer, his eyes wide behind his glasses.</p><p>“You thought I was going to kiss you?”</p><p>Eddie sucked in a breath. For the first time since Richie had mentioned, over a year before, taking him out once he got his car, Eddie considered the impossible.</p><p>Was all the flirting really joking the entire time? Had Bill and Stan lied when they’d assured him Richie felt the same? Had Richie never intended to, never wanted to, kiss him at all?</p><p>“Oh my God,” he breathed, horrified. With shaking hands, he unbuckled his seat belt, then reached for the lock on the car door.</p><p>“Wait, Eds –“</p><p>“I have to go,” he said numbly, getting the door unlocked after a few tries. It was only about ten miles to his house from here; he could make it. Better than spending another minute in the car with Richie, Richie who didn’t want to kiss him, who had been joking with him their entire lives only for Eddie to misread every word, every touch, every glance. Richie who he would not let see him cry.</p><p>“Stop, Eddie –“ Richie grabbed his wrist gently and Eddie paused, hand on the door. “I didn’t know you thought that –“</p><p>“Obviously,” Eddie interrupted a little harshly. “It’s not like you’ve spent the last almost ten years flirting with me at every corner, Richie! I’m not stupid, okay? I just – I was wrong, I thought we were on the same page when clearly we’re not –“</p><p>“The page where I <em>kiss you?</em>” Richie asked, his voice almost panicky. Eddie bit his lip and nodded, unable to meet Richie’s eyes. “Eddie, I had no fucking idea you were on that page, how was I supposed to know you were on that page?!”</p><p>“Because I flirted back! Because we talked about getting in your car and driving off alone together and I thought that meant something!”</p><p>“Hold on a sec – you flirted back?” Richie repeated incredulously. “You have <em>literally</em> never once in our entire lives flirted with me! I think I would’ve noticed!”</p><p>“I <em>literally</em> told you I thought you looked nice when I got in the car tonight!”</p><p>“No no no no, you said my <em>uniform</em> looked nice. There’s a big difference, man. If I’d known you’ve been flirting with me, I –“</p><p>“This is so stupid,” Eddie interrupted, putting his head in his hands. “Why are we arguing about this?”</p><p>“About the fact that you don’t know how to flirt?” Richie asked. “Or the fact that you would actually let me kiss you?”</p><p>“Let you?” Eddie murmured. “Rich, I’ve wanted you to kiss me since we were thirteen.”</p><p>Richie’s mouth dropped open in a small ‘o’.</p><p>“I always just… assumed you wanted to kiss me too.”</p><p>The words were barely out of his mouth before Richie was leaning forward, then grunting as his seat belt locked and pulled him back. He unbuckled, making a show of rolling his eyes and removing the seat belt, pulling a little laugh from Eddie.</p><p>“Eds,” Richie said softly, putting one hand on a burning, freckled cheek.</p><p>“Hm?”</p><p>“I’ve always wanted to kiss you,” he whispered, before closing the distance between them. Eddie melted into it, bringing his hands up to tangle in Richie’s hair the way he’d wanted to for so long. They kissed until Eddie’s mom called thirty-eight minutes later, and then over the next few years they kissed at every stop sign from Derry to Bangor and back again.</p>
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